


the gradual evolution of one selfish dickhead

by wingardium_levi_oh_shit



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Oh so much fucking fluff, Post-Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, chloe frazer character study, just sam and elena mostly, other gang members are there but its split second stuff, youre welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29558916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingardium_levi_oh_shit/pseuds/wingardium_levi_oh_shit
Summary: The years after India fly by for both Nadine and Chloe, with many memorable, or sometimes even mundane, memories worth taking note of.(Or, a Chloe Frazer character study trying to see how her relationship with Nadine can differ from past relationships and how she's grown as a person)
Relationships: Chloe Frazer/Nadine Ross
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	the gradual evolution of one selfish dickhead

The hotel room was a comforting sight after the events of the days before, traveling through the Western Ghats and hunting down historical treasures, all the while evading (or mostly not) Asav’s rebel army. They, all three of them, decided to share a hotel room, saving money and keeping the Tusk of Ganesh safe. Granted Sam stated his reasoning for this decision was due to his want to watch Nadine, resulting in an offended and yet boastful snort from herself.

‘Like you watching would change anything about what I will or won’t do, Drake,’ but Chloe was already tired of their bickering. Siblings without any of the integral trust. And more annoying.

‘Children, hush.’ She shot a warning look at Sam. ‘I still trust her, if she makes off with the Tusk, you can blame me.’ You would think they could have better conversations patching each other up. Chloe would prefer to be back in the jungle, facing off more armed men than deal with Sam’s sceptical face. 

‘Oh I will.’ 

‘Nadine, love, would you pass the painkillers.’ Nadine gave her a guilty look, knowing Chloe’s patience ran thin, but also knew that it was Chloe’s fault Sam was even here. Merely a lapse in judgement, happened to the best of us, she would make it up to her.

Sleeping situations are always fun to sort out, on expeditions such as theirs. Sam complained about being held hostage by Asav, but he was outnumbered without much discussion. The result was a grumbling Sam, curled into the couch and moving every five minutes. But it was worth it, in Chloe’s opinion, to have a bed again. 

The shower was plenty short of luxurious, but what it did have going for it was functionality. Time alone in the lukewarm water only resulted in time to think. A dangerous thing Chloe preferred not to give way to in the past. Decisions are split second, and she will improvise the rest, the Chloe Frazer way. 

But this job felt more personal, and her thoughts didn’t leave her be once she left the shower, giving the tiny room to her partner. _Partner_. That was to be thought about later, she reckoned.

For now, it's the question of the Tusk, and her stupid bastard of a father. She didn’t make things personal for a reason, complication is not something she appreciates. Thanks Dad, always the helpful one. 

Her preoccupation meant she didn’t even notice Nadine leaving the bathroom and settling in the bed beside her, wearing a simple tank and sleep short combo, until the bed sank and Chloe locked eyes with her. Nadine nods, seeming nonchalant in her every action as she reclines. 

‘Hi.’ Nadine says, avoiding her eyes. Aw. It truly is adorable what she gets nervous about, and the minimalistic manners which it shows. Chloe smiles, out of reflex, and Nadine seems to genuinely relax. 

‘You alright?’ is whispered now, Nadine with her brows furrowed. She didn’t know Chloe fully yet, but could somehow read her. That should be terrifying, shouldn’t it?

‘Oh, all good, darling.’ Nadine didn’t look convinced, but didn’t say so. A moment’s silence is welcomed, enveloping them both in the safety of silence, its anonymity. Sam’s snore from the couch breaks it, and Nadine inhales loudly, before whispering again. 

‘Y’know, if someone had told me at the start of this job that it would end in Chloe Frazer saving an entire city full of people by almost sacrificing herself, I never would have believed them.’ The feeling of a hot poker prodded her lower belly. She wasn’t used to genuine compliments it would seem. A smile fights its way to her mouth, but the sarcastic comment dies in her throat.

‘I could say the same for the notorious Nadine Ross, leaving the family company in the dust and setting her sights on treasure hunting as the goal on the horizon.’ Lying on their sides and facing each other on the small, lumpy bed meant she felt Nadine’s next exhale on her face. That should be gross but she can’t find it in her to care.

‘Sounds crazy when you put it like that.’ She sounds defensive, tone higher and eyes evading. 

‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Chloe asks. She’d wanted to ask back on the bridge, but it wasn’t the time or place. This seemed better. Nadine’s eyes met her own, more open and soft than she’d ever seen them before.

‘Ja. I think so.’ She nods gently. ‘Seems to be time. Going back to Shoreline now isn’t something I want.’ 

Hearing it made things solid, Nadine wanted to be partners with her, wanted to get in on the business. She smiles at Nadine.

‘Well, say no more, partner.’ She added in a wink, just for good measure, and the resulting smile with the rolling of the eyes made it worth it.

‘I take it back now,’ said in a deep tone, serious, but the smile proved the joke.

‘No take-back-sies. Not allowed, sorry love.’ Nadine simply smiled and hummed, seeming happily resigned to her new life. _Good_.

A silence descended again, calm and gentle. But Chloe’s mind still raced, thinking of what she had to do the next day, direct results of what had happened the days before. Nadine is still looking at her, question being asked with only her eyes. She didn’t press, and Chloe was more grateful than she could express. But she knew she needed to talk about it. The words practically tumbled out of her mouth of their own accord. 

‘Am I doing the right thing?’ She didn’t want to say more. Why was she questioning her decisions, she makes decisions and deals with the consequences. But there she was, Nadine looking confused as ever. 

‘With the Tusk, giving it to the Ministry of Culture. It’s the right thing to do, right?’ Nadine seemed to think about it for a second, expression of consideration pulled her features into a gorgeous pondering look.

‘I think so. It’s not ours to sell, really. Represents the people, doesn’t it? Belongs to the people.’ Simple logic, Nadine had an easy way of explaining and understanding things. If it isn’t complicated, why make it so? Chloe smiled.

‘Thank you.’ Nadine hummed in response again, eyes drooping from exhaustion. 

Maybe this partnership would work out. If Nadine doesn’t kill Sam for complaining about the ‘finders fee’. Only time will tell, she supposed. 

\----

Months were taken as a type of holiday after the events of India. The ‘finders fee’ was admittedly not very substantial, but Chloe and Nadine had their own things to sort out. Their business was slow going, mainly being contact-making and people-schmoozing. Chloe Frazer’s speciality. 

So when, almost six months later, they got their first lead on a treasure Nadine had been more than enthusiastic. 

‘Didn’t know you were so into Viking artefacts, love,’ she only teases, elbowing Nadine as she sat beside her at Chloe’s dinner table, both doing research and making plans. 

‘Just can’t wait to have something to do that isn’t look pretty and be nice.’ Her hands continue tap-tapping on the keyboard as Chloe laughs, looking at the maps laid out in front of her.

‘But darling you’re so good at that.’ 

A teasing rapport was something which remained a constant in their dynamic, in respective apartments, in airport waiting rooms, while traipsing foreign ground in search of ruins, even remaining when in the midst of a gun fight. 

‘Guy on your two o’clock.’ Nadine yelled, rolling from incoming fire. 

‘You say the sweetest things to me.’ Chloe responded, smirking at Nadine and relishing in the reactionary rolling of her eyes, before aiming at the man in question. 

The days went quickly, they worked well as a team and traipsing across Scandanavian countryside to find the promised ruins. They hadn’t had any run-ins, thankfully, the only issues arising when Nadine and her MREs proved to be the only food either of them had packed.

‘You know, I never thought I would like the sawdust taste of these,’ Chloe starts, waving the bar in the air, and Nadine’s head whips up to meet her eyes from across their small campfire, her eyebrows raised in obvious surprise. ‘And I was right, this is disgusting.’ 

Nadine’s laugh is worth the price of the taste of the MRE, just about. It has been a more frequent sound during their time together, making Chloe’s pride inflate multiple times over.

‘I will let you starve next time you don’t bring any food then, ja?’ 

‘Jobs don’t usually take this long for me. But, you see, I’ve got to train my assistant in on the job, education takes time. Didn’t take that into consideration.’ She taps her temple for dramatic effect and relishes in the spark of annoyance in Nadine’s eyes. She never gets angry with her, never fully angry, but the prodding does make for some fun.

‘Will you ever stop with the ‘assistant’ thing? If anything, I am your babysitter, steering you from one cliff face only to see you’re falling out of a tree.’ 

‘Nope, you’re my assistant forever!’ Chloe sang, before realising the rest of Nadine’s sentence. ‘And the tree thing only happened once, and it gave us the most beautiful picture, you said so yourself.’ Nadine’s hands fan in humoured dismissal, MRE bar waving through the air, and the gentle calm returns to their silence. 

Chloe likes to fill the silences, she coaxes Nadine into conversations to get her to reveal more about herself and her mysterious nature. Sometimes though, she likes the gentle calm that being with Nadine gives her. The knowledge that no matter what, Nadine was there with her and they were in this together. 

She can’t quite remember the last partnership that had given her the same feeling, of giving and getting support equally. The list in her head isn’t exhaustive, but even the more notable ones, Nate, Charlie, Flynn, had been so different from the dynamic she now enjoyed. 

Her work partnerships had often started in schemes, distractions, and secret plans to steal the plunder for uses the person had no knowledge of, and more often than not involved an element of relieving sexual frustration.

Sexual frustration wasn’t off the table in terms of her partnership with Nadine, but boundaries had been placed and Chloe wished to maintain them. Nothing explicitly stated, flirting was returned, but Nadine had been adamant to note the difference between personal and professional relationships. 

Nadine was honest with her, as she hoped she reciprocated. They worked together, never unsure of the other's priorities. It was honestly refreshing having something, someone, to depend on. She smiled, feeling that warm sensation blossom in her stomach as she does around Nadine, before she realises something.

‘Hm, dear?’ Nadine’s attention was pulled from her map once again, and rested on Chloe without inquiry about the pet name. She never does, not since the early days. _Success_. ‘If you expected me to bring my own food, why did you bring enough MREs for the both of us?’

Nadine shrugs, hand fidgeting with the map slightly like she does when she’s nervous. _Hm_. 

‘I got your back,’ is all she offers, head tilted to the map once again.

Somehow Chloe can’t imagine getting tired of hearing that.

\----

For the first year of their endeavour, Nadine had remained as cordial as possible whenever temporarily staying with Chloe in London. She took over her spare room, but made it a habit to make meals, clean up after herself, and make sure to never get in the way. Not that Chloe was complaining, waking up to fresh coffee and a homemade meal was a hell of a lot better than her usual vegemite on toast at 11am. 

Soon, maybe a year and a half after India, it became clear that being in the one place was more effective for the efficiency of their company. And better for their own enjoyment, as even when they were apart, nightly calls and photos sent to update the happenings of the day were common. Nadine’s home in South Africa was hardly used, but still remained her ‘home’. 

This fact was ignored, as if it would disappear, for another few months. That is, until Chloe mentioned it as a joke. 

Nadine had been staying over for the past month as they researched for their next job.

‘Y’know, might just be easier if you move the rest of your stuff in here.’ Chloe toed a sock of Nadine’s laying on the floor from her position on the couch, suppressing a smile but maintaining her scrunched up face despite Nadine’s raised eyebrow tempting a laugh. 

‘That’s just because I actually do the laundry,’ and she returned easily to her research, leaving Chloe grumbling and thinking about it seriously now. 

‘Honestly though, why haven’t you moved in yet?’ She tried to think about the last time she wanted to live with someone, and came back empty. Her last roommate had been in a joint prison cell. Maybe she just wanted a detox from that memory. 

‘What?’ Nadine’s sharp, surprised tone shocked Chloe and she had to stumble to think about reasoning.

‘I mean you practically live here anyway, between jobs. And god knows I could do with the financial help, last few jobs have been a little underwhelming, right?’ Nadine snorts in agreement, eyes still stuck on Choe’s, stuck in her serious and contemplative mode. God, she’s pretty, isn’t she. 

Refocus. 

‘You could do with my thrilling company, and I like having clean dishes. I think it’s a win-win, what do you say, China?’ Why is her heart hammering so hard? 

Nadine’s eyes are piercing, almost unbelieving, but it’s been so long since something happened to shake the foundation of this friendship and a moment of silence passed easily.

‘I don’t want to intrude.’ It is so quiet that Chloe almost doesn’t hear, but when she does her heart flutters a little and she has to take a steadying breath. 

‘Your socks are already on my floor love, already an attack on my privacy, eh?’ She smirked, but it melted once Nadine’s face fell, not truly hearing the joking tone. 

‘No, no, Nadine you’re not an intrusion. I think it would be better, no? You’d have a place here, instead of floating between home in South Africa and work here.’ She was rambling and she knew it, trying to cover the mistakes of the moment before, but Nadine’s facial expression is still thinking. Oh. She doesn’t want this and doesn’t know how to say it. _Crap_.

‘Or if you don’t want to that’s totally fine, what you got there anyway?’ She stood fast and sauntered over to the table, trying to distract in a flurry of action, but Nadine was still looking at her like that. Contemplative. 

‘Chloe, are you sure?’ Soft around the edges once more, and Chloe smiled. 

‘Yeah, love.’ This felt big and Chloe didn’t want to say the wrong thing, send Nadine flying into the hills. But Nadine smiles and everything seems alright. 

‘Okay.’ She says quietly. Chloe nods. 

‘Okay.’

The following week, Nadine returned with her belongings. The week after she had reorganised the kitchen. 

\----

Another few months slipped by like the gentle currents of a wandering river, pace seeming steady and slow but the distance travelled being greater in hindsight. They had found another job, on Sam’s insistence, one in ancient ruins of Greece looking for ancient totems of some minor Greek god. 

If Chloe was being honest, she had forgotten all the information Nadine had told her when the gunshot went off. 

First, she was delirious with glee. The fucker who had been hunting them for the entire job had missed! She doesn’t remember his face, not now, but does remember the American accent, obnoxious and entirely too twangy. Twat.

But they had fallen into the river, unpursued and barely escaping, and red clouds swirled in the water. So she had been hit. Well, who knew adrenaline could be that strong a drug, eh? She was on the verge of panicking when Sam called out from behind her.

‘Em, Chloe?’ She would have yelled at him to shut up, but he sounded concerned. Twisting, she saw it. 

Nadine was floating behind her, choking out a breath, legs working overtime to keep her up while her hands pressed into her abdomen. Pressed into the source of the blood. 

Things moved at two time speed, Chloe’s arm was around Nadine’s waist, and within seconds they were on the shore. One look at Sam and the message was understood. 

‘I got her,’ is all he says, crouched beside a pissed-looking Nadine. 

And all hell broke loose. 

No one hurts Nadine. 

Chloe doesn’t remember how many men there were. Doesn’t remember the cause of the injuries she found later. Doesn’t remember what Sam tells her after they’re all safe. 

Because none of that mattered. 

She remembers feeling out of breath when she returned to Nadine and Sam. Remembers supporting Nadine as they find the exit of the ruins and procure a 4x4, Sam leading the way with his revolver warding enemies away. 

Remembers the emergency stitches she had to poke through Nadine’s skin, as her partner muffled screams into the jacket balled in her mouth. 

Remembers letting Sam drive to the hospital so she could keep an eye on Nadine, keep her awake. 

Remembers threatening the hospital staff when they said she couldn’t go into Nadine’s room. 

The coffee Sam had brought her was bitter and burnt her tongue. She gulped it down anyway, mind racing with a thousand ways to get to Nadine. The doctors didn’t understand, she just wanted to know she was okay. The waiting room left a great deal to be desired, but Chloe wasn’t looking for comfort, merely a chair to rest on until she could get to Nadine. And then she realised Sam was talking. 

‘- and I know she won’t like it, but the way I see it this might be the only way to get information.’ He is waving his hands, like he does when trying to convince them to do a risky job. Like he had when trying to convince them to do this job.

‘What?’ Perhaps she said it too sharp, but she hadn’t a fucking clue what he was on about and her patience had never been so thin. 

‘Chloe,’ his tone is annoyed but she doesn’t care, not right now. ‘I was saying I can pretend to be Nadine’s husband, get us some information on how she’s doin’.’ She knew anger shouldn’t have been the first emotion she felt, but it was. Sam was going to be the one to know how she was? _Sam_? 

‘Fine.’ It came out choked and full of emotion, but Sam didn’t press. Not one for emotions, the elder Drake. Lucky Chloe. 

He returned to her side twenty minutes later, wincing at the punch he received when he didn't say anything. 

‘Hey! Jeez, okay! They said she’s stable, that she’ll be able for visitors soon, and someone will come get me. I told them you’d be coming with, and they didn’t seem too annoyed so I think we’ve the go ahead.’ Chloe nodded along, taking in the only information they’d gotten for hours. 

‘Did she need surgery? How’s her blood pressure, she was worried about that before we came here? Did the bullet hit any organs, it seemed so close to her lungs?’ Sam shrugged, and Chloe hit him again. 

‘Seriously? C’mon Chloe, they’ll tell you in a little bit, I’m not an information sponge.’ 

‘That much was clear.’ But this time he looked genuinely hurt. ‘Look, Sam, I’m just worried about her.’

‘I know. Believe it or not, I am too. She terrifies me, but I don't wanna see her hurt like this.’ She knew, right then, that he was being serious, entirely genuine. But she just felt wrong. It was different, her and Nadine, compared to other partnerships. She couldn’t find words to describe it. It just was. What Sam was feeling was so miniscule in comparison. But saying that would hurt him, and bring questions she didn’t know how to answer to the forefront. So she didn’t describe it, what it was that made them different, and just smiled at Sam. 

‘You, my friend, have gone soft.’ His laugh is explosive.

‘Just don't tell her, alright?’

‘Scouts honour.’ 

It was another hour before the nurse came, and brought them both to Nadine’s room. A small private room, consisting solely of the bed, monitors, and a single visitor's chair. 

Nadine was awake, barely by the look of it, and smiled weakly when they walked in the room. 

‘Oh, hey.’ Casual as can be, Nadine the notorious chill dude. What a dickhead. Chloe laughed, an absurd sound after the events of the day, and somehow found herself sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling Nadine into a tight hug. 

‘You’re such a prick,’ is what she came tumbling out of her mouth, not at all what she felt but that's what she said. Nadine laughed and Chloe thought she’d never heard a better sound. 

‘I know, I’m the worst.’ Chloe coughed out a laugh and tightened her arms around Nadine’s shoulders, almost exactly as Nadine’s hands on her back splayed and began to subconsciously rubbing patterns into her back. It was a moment that lasted a pleasant lifetime, to Chloe. She could have lived in that moment, feeling so happy that she didn’t know what to do with it, and so safe she almost felt overwhelmed. 

A forced cough startled Nadine, and she jumped back and groaned from the impact on her wound, and Choe just sighed. Nadine’s eyes went wide once Chloe had sat back enough to show Sam still standing in the doorway. Was that a blush on her cheeks? 

‘Drake.’ She said, stiff and all professional-like. Chloe wanted to hug her again, affection filling her entire being. This truly is her best friend. 

‘Ross.’ He sighed, clearly expecting something more. Chloe’s eyes couldn’t seem to leave Nadine, she wasn’t capable. 

‘You know,’ she’d begun, knowing the shit she’d stir up. Sometimes their rivalry was fun, what can she say? ‘Sam had to pretend to be your husband so we could get in here, doctors wouldn’t let us in otherwise.’ Nadine looked at her, glanced to Sam, and back to Chloe with a grimace. 

‘You said I married him?’ and got a nod in response. _Oh this’ll be good_. 

‘Should’ve let me die.’ Chloe laughed again, and Nadine had never looked this happy. Looked free, not a worry in the world, as she looked at Chloe with those soft eyes, unashamed. _Lots of pain meds then_.

‘Next time, I just might.’ Sam grumbled, but Chloe just rolled her eyes, throwing him a disinterested glare.

‘Sam, Nadine dies and none of us come home, I’ll make sure of it.’ Nadine’s breath audibly quickens, but the most noticeable difference is Sam’s silence. Looking at Nadine, she saw her sharing a look with Sam. 

‘What?’ Chloe demanded, annoyed to say the least. Sam is quiet in his response.

‘Chloe, you didn’t see yourself out there. You were terrifying. Please, if you’ve any respect for my surely impending heart condition, don’t threaten me again.’ The silence was heavy, and Chloe felt her face burning with embarrassment. She hadn’t thought at the time, merely acted, and now didn’t know what this could change. What had she done?

‘I gotta smoke.’ Sam announced with a clap of his hands and his immediate, sudden departure. 

The room lay silent, holding its breath. But Chloe looked back at Nadine, and her worries slipped away. She sat, looking as open as before, face painted with pure awe. 

‘Thank you.’ was whispered, filled to the brim with emotion, and Chloe could only sigh. Nadine wasn’t freaked out.

‘Just don’t ever do that to me again.’

‘Promise.’

\----

‘How’s the patient?’ Elena Fisher asked, sounding chirpy as ever, over the video call to Chloe. A groan echoed from some other part of the apartment, and Chloe laughed. It was a full month since the incident in Greece, and Nadine was not enjoying the enforced quarantine.

‘She’s as bad at playing the part of a patient as you’d imagine.’ She was whirling around the apartment, looking for her, and felt the anger rise once she found her. ‘For example right fuckin’ now, Nadine you know you shouldn’t be cooking!’ She flipped the camera on her phone to expose Nadine, and the resulting sheepish look was almost worth it, frozen on her tippy toes to reach the pasta. 

‘I can’t keep eating vegemite on everything, please send help.’ She pleads, sincerely at the camera and Chloe’s laugh echoed in the room, mirrored by Elena’s through the phone. 

‘Oh please, you love it, China,’ said in a deep drawl, while dragging Nadine, groaning all the while, back into their living room. 

‘Sit,’ she ordered, and handed over the phone. ‘Talk, and I will bring you food. Play nice and I might give you some extra vegemite.’ Nadine laughed, loud and chesty. Her comfortable laugh. 

‘Oh, you truly are the perfect woman.’

‘Don’t I know it!’ Chloe said, sauntering away.

She stood just out of sight for a moment, curiosity getting the better of her, and heard the beginnings of an awkward conversation.

‘Eh, hi.’ Nadine started. _Ever the poet_. But Chloe was confident, they’re both well capable. She wanted them to get along. And should they need a topic to talk about, the one and only Chloe Frazer was always a subject worth mentioning. Just saying. 

Chloe admits, she wasn’t the world’s best cook, nor was she a good passable cook like Nadine. But she did in fact know what burning smells like, so sticking clear of that she thought she can’t go too far wrong. The meal she makes is simple enough, pasta in a creamy, tomato sauce from a jar, with leftover vegetables she found in the fridge and some cheese just for some extra texture. Didn’t seem all too shabby. 

The sound of loud, comfortable laughter stopped her in her tracks, just outside the view of Nadine on the couch. It wasn’t the laugh only Chloe could entice out, feeling a shameful degree of pride in realising that. She didn’t want to own any part of Nadine, but it was nice having the knowledge that there was some part of her that only Chloe gets to see. 

Words were then said that shook Chloe out of her train of thought. 

‘I’m sorry, she did _what_ with Charlie Cutter?’ Nope, Chloe knows exactly what story is being told and knows exactly why it needs to be stopped, twisting in the room with sudden speed.

‘Oh no, sunshine, what are you telling her?’ And Nadine laughs again.

‘You eavesdropping, Frazer?’

‘Just making sure I’m not implicated in a crime I didn’t commit, Ross.’ Handing her the plate without a word. 

‘A crime _you_ didn’t commit? Those exist?’ This caused a dramatic gasp, Chloe putting a hand on her chest for comedic effect. 

‘You wound me.’

‘You wound yourself,’ Elena chimes in. ‘You were the one who got drunk and decided to go to English Disneyland, and got sick everywhere.’

‘Alton Towers’, she corrected. ‘Less expensive and less fun. And it wasn’t everywhere, it was one bathroom. Very contained! And hardly the most out there thing I’ve done.’

‘With Charlie Cutter?’ Nadine asked, dumbfounded. She looked so pretty, trying to hold back her confused laughs.

‘He’s a good laugh, I don’t see how you don’t get on with him.’ Nadine shrugs.

‘Gets on too well with Sam, I morally have to dislike him a little,’ and now it’s Chloe’s turn to laugh, Elena echoing it a few seconds later with the lag. 

There’s a solid moment of Chloe just sitting and laughing with two of her favourite people. Until there was a high-pitched cry heard in the background of Elena’s audio and she sighs loudly. Before Elena can apologise, Nadine cuts in. 

‘Nathan still not sleep trained?’ Another moment's silence passed before the three erupt into laughter. It was uncontainable, the kind that can only stop after it pitters out like the final drops of rain. 

With a heavy breath, to stabilise herself, Elena said goodnight.

‘Should get Nate off to sleep,’ she said between laughs. Nadine and Chloe responding with similarly stinted sign-offs, ended the call and the night continued with the two of them curled up on the couch side by side, the most natural thing in the world. 

\----

Another two months and Nadine was almost fully healed, only some stiffness remaining, but the madwoman wanted to go on another job.

‘C’mon Chloe, I know you’re itching to get into a 4x4 and crash into some ancient structures again.’ Nadine had that wild look in her eyes, the kind that often enticed Chloe into racing her up cliff faces or into playing monopoly on a slow night at home. This day, it was not as enticing. 

‘The best driver in the business doesn’t crash.’

‘You’ll have to introduce us sometime, sweetheart.’ Chloe didn’t appreciate the use of her own pet names against her, tried to ignore the common resulting drop of her stomach, and glared at Nadine. 

‘Funny.’ 

Nadine moved around their kitchen easily, dusting one spice into the pan after another, seeming content until she sighed. 

‘I just,’ and she took a second to pause, to think. ‘I don’t like holding you back. It’s been a while since we’ve had a job, and you’ve been stuck in this apartment with me for as long.’

‘Wouldn’t say I’m stuck-’ Chloe had begun, but Nadine clearly had a thought out script she didn’t want to lose the nerve to say. 

‘I would. You leave to do the food shop, and call me before the checkout to check there was nothing else I need.’ She couldn’t control the blush to her face. Nadine wasn’t insulting her, or making fun, she was being honest. That sounded far too pathetic to be something she was doing. And repeatedly at that. But her memories failed to prove otherwise. Nadine continued.

‘I promise, I appreciate all you’ve done for me. I just don’t want you changing things to help me.’ Her defensive nature kicked in, hearing anything similar to criticism and fuelling her with snarky comments aimed to distract and disarm. 

But Nadine stood there, frying pan sizzling behind her, with her lips pursed in the way they do when she’s being serious and eyes wide like when she says something she knows Chloe doesn’t want to hear. It’s like a survival instinct, like baby animals who look cute so other animals won’t eat them. Chloe hates that it’s always seemed to work. 

‘Chloe you haven’t even been out since we got back from Greece. And I remember when I first moved here you said that a night out was your equivalent to a workout for me. I must be driving you insane.’ The last sentence is whispered, and her body curls inward from the involuntary awkward feeling. 

‘But that’s not true!’ Chloe knew she was scrambling, but Nadine almost looked annoyed at herself. That could not stand. ‘I went to the pub with Charlie and the lads last week, remember?’

‘Because I practically shoved you out the door. And you were home by half nine. Chloe.’ God, how did she manage to sound so small? This giant of a woman, sounding so sad. 

‘It was boring.’ 

‘Chloe-’ She had started again, but Chloe knew that she had to put an end to the thought process. She couldn’t let that idea plague her partner. Wouldn’t let it.

‘Nadine, you know me. I don’t do anything I don’t want to. Selfish dickhead, remember?’ That brought forth a small laugh, and Chloe found the strength to reach out, hands resting on Nadine’s biceps. ‘If I’m here, it’s because I want to be.’ 

This moment felt big. Bigger than it should have. Bigger than a moment of reassurance between work partners should be. 

Chloe knew she was royally fucked. 

But Nadine sighed, and softly leaned into Chloe’s hands. And things fit back into place.

‘Ja, okay.’ 

‘Okay.’ The smile they shared felt like an exhale, like settling back into comfort, like a familiar and tight hug. 

Movement was slow, but soon the dinner was made and eaten in comfortable conversation. 

Four days later they had been relaxing on the couch, both reclined beside each other and reading in silence. Chloe, barely reading the novel in her hands, mostly just regarding the focused scrunch of Nadine’s face as she poured all her attention into one of Chloe’s oldest history books. Their legs were casually twisted together. Nadine had grown more needy, needing to know Chloe was beside her with a simple, innocent touch, over the course of the years. And Chloe had not complained once. 

The buzzing of her phone distracted her from her observations. Probably a good thing, Chloe needed to get control of herself.

The text brought a smile to her face.

‘Honey, remember when you said you wanted to get us another job?’

And then Nadine complained about it for days. 

‘Elena can’t find anyone else to babysit? We live on a different continent.’ Chloe grinned her best shit-eating grin at her.

‘Nope!’

‘Not even Drake? Victor?’

‘Would you trust Sam with a baby? And Sully would have her smoking before Teletubbies is over.’ Nadine’s grunt was enough of a response, apparently. Chloe just kept making her jokes. 

‘Honey, this time can you try and keep Nate inside the building? You know I want to see you toss him out another window but I promised Elena we would play nice.’

‘It’s just like any other job, sweetheart. You wanna run over escape strategies on the plane?’

Even when they were just outside the house itself.

‘Now remember, Drakes are friends, not food.’ Nadine snorted, tapped Chloe’s arm for reassurance, before they finished walking up the drive. 

_Hm_ , Chloe had been right, all those years ago. White picket fence.

The transfer of authority was quick and easy, courtesy of Chloe running a total of 12 minutes late which Nadine had given out to her about. But within minutes they were left with happily gurgling Cassie and written instructions on her feeding and sleeping schedule.

The baby was 8 months old, but was a little devil in terms of grabbing things she shouldn’t be and crawling away in complete stealth mode. It was going to be a night. 

It started easy enough, with Chloe sitting on the couch with Cassie bobbing on her knee, babbling with glee.

‘Honey,’ she asked Nadine. ‘What curse word should we teach her first?’ Nadine ignored her, flicking through the channels looking for National Geographic, but the ghost of a smile made the joke worth it. 

The show seemed to do the trick, talking about the penguins from the farthest reaches and their mythical ability to fall off cliffs unharmed, captivating both Nadine and Cassie with equal fascination. It was truly adorable. 

And perfect.

Chloe passed Cassie into Nadine’s surprised arms, who hummed the question she didn’t say out loud.

‘I should make her dinner, and you two look happy here. Just don’t throw her out a window.’ And Nadine laughed, still obviously feeling awkward as she got a good grip on the baby.

‘No promises, ja.’

Elena had left comprehensive lists detailing exactly how to care for Cassie, so the process was easier than most things. She returned within a few minutes and found an image she’d never imagined.

Nadine was in the same position, lounged on the couch, but Cassie had curled into her and was fast asleep on her chest. Chloe felt like she would melt, right there in Nate Drake’s living room. 

‘Creep.’ Nadine stated, grin punctuating what should have been somewhat insulting, and Chloe couldn’t find it in her to be embarrassed at being caught out.

‘You’re good at that.’ Is all she said as she moved back across the room to them. Nadine smiled softly. God, if Nathan could see her now he would implode from confusion. 

‘Eldest sister.’ She said simply. ‘They’re easy at this age. Basic needs; food, sleep, and love.’

‘Can’t say I fault the logic.’ Chloe replies, settling into the couch beside her. ‘Though, I hate to tell you but she’s not meant to be asleep for another two hours.’

‘Shit.’

And all hell broke loose. Cassie cried louder than Chloe could have imagined with her tiny lungs and tinier vocal chords. She was fairly certain she burst an eardrum that night. It had taken three hours to finally get her off to sleep, and once she was happily dreaming in her cot, Chloe had stumbled into the sitting room where Nadine was already curled up.

Plonking beside her, she noted how Nadine’s knees were tucked into her body, and Chloe automatically put her arm on her knees. There was a split second where she had begun to overthink, and was about to audibly blame her exhaustion, when Nadine’s head hit her shoulder and she let out a long exhale. 

‘Long night.’ Chloe hummed in response, sinking a little so Nadine’s head was more comfortable on her shoulder.

‘You could say that again.’

‘Long night.’ Nadine repeated and Chloe muffled her laughs.

‘Are you kidding me? That was pathetic.’ 

‘Shut up, I’m tired.’ She said it in a whiny tone, something which should not have made Chloe smile that wide. But Nadine couldn’t see her face beaming, so it was fine. Everything was fine. She’s got this under control.

‘Pathetic.’ She repeated, and she could feel Nadine chuckle softly.

‘Sleeeeep.’ She drawled again, voice deeper and a bit raspy now, and Chloe felt her stomach fall. 

Okay, maybe not entirely under control. Fuck. 

\----

Chloe had had her fair share of unwanted crushes. Past romantic relationships had usually been something she’d fallen into, a person she slept with often enough that it had developed into more than a habit, or likewise. She has feelings, and they came hard and fast, but the nature of her job and therefore the nature of the people around meant her relationship history left something to be desired.

But she had curated a simple strategy to get over feelings for someone. Getting under someone else.

Not the most original, she’d admit, but effective nonetheless. 

So far, that hadn’t worked where Nadine was involved. And not for a lack of trying.

So Chloe sat there, at the local bar which they preferred in London, suffering as a result. Because Nadine had walked in and looked like _that_. She had a simple shirt and nice pant combo, a usual outfit despite the casual nature of the bar, but Chloe was already high strung. 

Nadine smiled in that familiar way she does.

‘You look nice, Frazer.’ Chloe wanted to never get changed. _God, pull yourself together_.

‘And you look…’ She paused, trying to think of anything, any word that would do the sight in front of her justice. Paused for too long. Nadine frowned at her, confusion clear. 

‘You cool?’ Aw, always the sweetheart.

‘Yeah, course, how was the trip home? Plane disgusting as usual?’ Nadine groaned with annoyance as she scooched into their booth. 

‘Plane was horrible, why is it always so stuffy?’ 

‘Specially for our discomfort.’ Chloe relished in the deep grumble of agreement she earned. 

They had a good moment of relaxing and talking casually about their days or what they would do when they got home, arguing between watching a movie and an animal documentary, when a drink neither of them ordered appeared on the table. 

Nadine rolled her eyes.

‘Em, we didn’t order this?’ Chloe asked the server. They smiled.

‘No, she did,’ and pointed out a mousey looking woman from across the bar, who was laughing with a group of friends. ‘For you.’ And pointed again, but at Nadine this time. They disappeared to clear off nearby tables as if they hadn’t just delivered Chloe’s worst nightmare.

Nadine looked awkward, eyes shifting back and forth between the woman and Chloe. 

‘Hm, pretty.’ Chloe choked out, and Nadine nodded. _She nodded_. 

She lifted the beer bottle, lifting it in a salute to the woman, and then twisted subtly so she was completely facing Chloe. Chloe only had to give her a ‘huh?’ expression, and Nadine shrugged.

‘Not my type.’ And Chloe hummed, trying not to be too happy about it.

‘So your type isn’t beautiful women nor psychopaths. That’s really cutting down your opportunities, ‘specially in this business.’

‘I like my chances.’ Her eyes were full of mischief and Chloe didn’t understand why, but laughed anyway, feeling at ease once again.

‘I bet you do.’ 

Nadine’s grin was worth any risks taken, Chloe’s humble opinion, and the woman in the corner was already forgotten. Having not seen each other for the few weeks Nadine had taken to visit her family, this moment of reunion was one of many drinks and simple enjoyment in the other’s company. 

The night ended, as many of theirs did, with Nadine’s arm around Chloe’s waist as she stabilised them both the entire way home. Her legs moved in exaggerated swings in front of their bodies. 

‘C’mon China, dance with me!’ Chloe tried to get their legs to overlap, like in the can-can. Nadine’s laugh caused them to sway as they moved. She obliged, moving her legs so that they mirrored Chloe’s kicks, and Chloe had never felt lighter than in that moment.

‘You happy?’ Nadine asked, posing the question as a joke but Chloe knows her, and hears the tone behind the words. 

‘Hmm,’ Chloe sighed. ‘Yes Nadine, I am happy.’ A small smile is shared between them, until Chloe sticks out her tongue at her and Nadine groaned. 

But a strange silence hung over the air. Nadine had things on her mind, and Chloe was going to wait for her to sort out her thoughts. She always got there, given enough time.

The walk home was uneventful, gaggles of other people in equal states of intoxication floated around the streets, not enough to resemble a public holiday but enough to yell drunk ‘hello’s at from across the road. 

They made it to their apartment building when Chloe’s patience had run out. It was always weaker under the influence.

‘So, you gonna talk to me about it?’ Nadine sighed, almost as if expecting this.

‘You know me too well.’

‘Your fault, honeybuns.’ Chloe wiggled her eyebrows at Nadine and she laughed in response.

‘Honeybuns? That one’s new.’ A blush rose to Nadine’s cheeks once again and Chloe felt the familiar pride it usually enticed.

‘I am constantly expanding my vernacular. To a superfluous extent.’

‘That sounds made up.’ Nadine had leant against the wall of the lift, and Chloe couldn’t resist enjoying the sight in front of her. But Nadine was avoiding her eyes still. 

‘C’mon, what is it?’ Another sigh. 

‘My parents are still my parents.’ _Ah_. Families are always tricky, and Nadine’s especially so. 

‘Still unhappy with your life choices?’ Nadine snorted.

‘You could say that. Disappointed and discredited are the words they used.’ Chloe could kill them for the hurt expression Nadine is wearing. No one hurts Nadine.

‘Oh, love-’ she began, but Nadine waved her hand. 

‘Please, don’t. It is what it is.’ She looked so small, this woman who could take out an entire army if she wanted to, looking so beaten down from a few short days at home.

‘Can I give you a hug?’ The words came out before Chloe could think but they were honest. She wasn’t one for giving comfort and Nadine wasn’t one for taking it. But things were always different for them, the same rules didn’t apply like with others. 

Nadine waited for a minute, before curtly nodding once.

Chloe had her arms around Nadine’s shoulders within seconds, acting on impulse and a tad bit more liquid courage than normal. Nadine’s arms looped around her waist as Chloe buried her face into Nadine’s collar. A small, almost inaudible voice in the back of her head said something about boundaries, but when Nadine sighed into her all qualms fell away. 

‘You’re my favourite.’ Chloe whispered, pressing a short kiss into Nadine’s neck before she could overthink. Nadine sighed again and let her chin fall onto Chloe’s shoulder, arms tightening. 

‘You’re mine too.’

\----

Their first kiss is a few months after that incident at the bar. A build-up of years of pining and genuinely caring for one another. Though Chloe admits that she would have preferred a better location than Nate and Elena’s kitchen during their Christmas party, but hey you can’t win ‘em all. 

And she certainly won.

Things between them were strange. Not a bad strange, but merely a new strange. 

Chloe is used to electric relationships, full of energy and excitement, and always overflowing with sexual tension.

But this? This was Nadine. 

They had more moments of normality, fighting over the shower in the mornings and her giving out about the state of Chloe’s room. Just now they share it. 

But the new aspects were exciting though. 

Nervousness around ‘date nights’. Breathy ‘good mornings’ seeming like the most thrilling thing in the world. The quiet pleasure in giving small, exciting kisses in the midst of mundane activities like making dinner or putting away the laundry. 

Most of all, the changes that had the most impact to Chloe were the casual ways Nadine showed her feelings. If Chloe had thought she had been needy for casual contact when they were work partners, she couldn’t describe how it was now.

Chloe had expected a certain kind of needy, the kind that left them both spent and happily dozing after a busy night. Or morning. Or any time of day, really. 

But this was nothing like she’d experienced in too long to remember. Nadine would reach out to hold her hand while walking around the shop, would lean into her shoulder when watching tv, would make sure to tangle their legs when settling in for the night. It wasn’t anything with ulterior motives, nothing but the reassurance that Chloe was nearby. It never failed to make her heart flutter, just a bit. 

‘Did you ever think this would actually happen?’ Chloe didn’t plan the question, but Nadine didn’t seem to mind, looking pensive. God, Chloe loved being free to look at her like this.

‘Being honest? Not really.’ She had waited for an explanation, but when Nadine didn’t offer one she frowned a little, putting the book on the coffee table, attentive not to disturb Chloe’s legs across her own.

‘Rude.’ But Nadine didn’t look like she was angry, putting her book down too, her face looked honest.

‘Sorry. I just,’ she paused, careful. She’d always been so careful. ‘I worried, a bit, at the beginning. You always seemed so non-committal. And for good reason, I know things haven’t been easy and people are dicks. But, I worried. That I would get too close, too attached, and I would be the one hurt from it.’ 

Chloe didn’t reply, thinking on how the beginning of their friendship and of their partnership, and more, and how she’d acted. How they’d both acted. Nadine’s hands rubbed her legs gently, letting her process her thoughts.

‘I get that.’ She said quietly. ‘I’m not the greatest at showing people how I really feel. Haven’t had a lot of practice.’ But Nadine’s head shook.

‘Nah, I don’t think that. I think you’re good at knowing how people see you. If they want to assume things of you, you’ll let them until it’s too late for them and you benefit. But I stopped assuming things of you, or tried to, after India.’ Chloe felt the smile before it came, couldn’t remember when someone had known her this well last. The Drakes and company came close, but not quite this close. Nadine had been her best friend for years at this stage.

‘Do you remember what you said to me, in the Western Ghats, when we were just driving around?’ Nadine asked, shocking Chloe out of her thought process slightly.

‘Oh, lots of clever and endearing things.’ An automatic response.

‘Debatable. No, you were talking about why you hired me, and you said that it was nice to work with a woman for once.’ Chloe smiled at the memory, and tried to ignore the fight that had come soon after. Water under the bridge. 

‘It was. Just felt better I guess. That and I thought you were hot, that definitely helped.’ A statement which earned her a slight shove of her legs and the steady blush on Nadine’s cheeks. _Worth it_.

‘And it was nice. Different. I won’t say the trust was immediate, we both had our own shit to sort out and myself moreso than you. But there was an element of respect which was new. Not earned or fought for, just present. Changed how that whole experience was, for me.’ She took a breath, steady herself. She wasn’t one for big speeches, but this seemed to be something which had been stewing, and Chloe couldn’t be more grateful to be let in on her thoughts. 

‘And that’s how I experienced most things after India too, regardless of if I’d done them with a woman before. They were new, exciting even because I was doing them with you, and because things with you were different. Better. I didn’t want to assume your flirting was real, like people you’d worked with in the past had, and ruin this.’ She gestured between them both. 

‘It’s too important to me.’ With a big sigh, Nadine finished the longest monologue that wasn’t related to animals Chloe had ever heard in their many years of partnership. 

The moment brought with it a sweeping feeling of acceptance, listening, and a genuine feeling of love. Chloe ought to be scared, but with Nadine looking at her like that she felt as though she could take on the world. But it was still too early, their relationship too young, for grand declarations. Not yet. 

‘You’re such a sap.’ Chloe smiled, and tried to say the words with the most emotion she can manage, with the message seeming to be received when Nadine returned the smile in equal measure. 

‘Ja, I guess. But don’t tell anyone, or you’ll live to regret it.’ And Chloe’s smile turned mischievous, to Nadine’s clear delight. 

‘Is that a promise?’ 

‘Most definitely.’ 

**Author's Note:**

> kind of related to 'don your gay apparel', just goes into detail about their first kiss if you're lookin


End file.
